Chapter 18
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
MIA
“Kahiau? Koa?” the high-pitched voice grated Mia’s sensibilities as she turned to see a woman rushing toward their group.
Her long dark hair was streaked with white, her eyes a little too red. Her skin had lost all of its luster and she was achingly thin, her arms looking like one bad move would have them broken.
Koa tightened next to Mia, and without a word of introduction, Mia knew who this had to be.
“You called her?” Koa asked his brother, not acknowledging the woman who stood between them.
“Tutu’s her mom,” Kahiau said with a shrug.
Next to Mia, Koa felt nearly as breakable as his mother looked.
K.J. perked up from his seat next to Koa before Lana waved for him to come to her. Lana held both of her children close as she watched Koa’s mom warily, that interaction telling Mia all she needed to know about the woman.
“Kahiau.” Their mom turned to the son who seemed ready to accept her.
Kahiau nodded once. His arms didn’t open but it seemed his heart might have. At least a little.
She turned her entire body so that now she faced Koa. Her eyes took in everything about him and then paused on the arm that held Mia.
Koa turned away, his expression hard before his mom slumped into a seat beside Kahiau.
Mia wanted to reach out to Koa. To help some of the incredible tension rolling off him to cease. But what could she say? What could she do?
“No news yet,” Preston said as he took the seat K.J. had just vacated.
“Thanks for checking,” Koa’s voice was as tight as his body.
Preston looked from Kahiau to their mom to Koa, seeing all he needed.
“I’ll keep at it. They’ll have to give me something sometime.”
Koa nodded and then silence reigned. The uncomfortable kind that made one itch to move and speak and yet one didn’t.
“So what happened to my mom?” Koa’s mom finally spoke what felt like days later.
Koa’s grip on Mia tightened as if his tie to her and that alone was keeping him from jumping out of his seat and confronting his mother.
“We don’t know. I told you that in my text.” Kahiau’s patience sounded like it was starting to wear thin.
“I just don’t get it. Doesn’t Koa live with her? Shouldn’t he have been there?”
The words were cruel and cutting, designed to get a reaction out of her son.
Mia’s eyes went wide, and she felt Koa letting go of her. She knew he was about to walk over to his mom. She also knew that wasn’t what he wanted. He’d shown her minutes before what he wanted. To stay away from the woman.
Mia had to help him do that. Especially considering all that he was already going through. Her heart pounded hard against her chest as she anticipated what she was about to say.
“I don’t know much about this family situation, but in most I’ve seen, it’s usually the child of the person who is elderly that has that kind of responsibility, not the grandchild.” Mia kept her tone light, even as she knew her words were nothing but a lit fuse.
Koa’s mom speared Mia with a look that could have shackled her to her seat.
Mia could not believe she’d said that. Mia wasn’t confrontational.
She was ending her relationship with Koa’s mom before it even began.
But from the corner of her eye, she saw Lana’s smile of approval, Kahiau’s raised eyebrows of wonder, and felt Koa’s gentle squeezing of her shoulder.
They were all on her side, and for now that was enough.
Her words might not have been smart for Mia’s future, but then and there, it was what Koa had needed, and Mia wasn’t about to let him be dragged down by the woman who hadn’t been there for him.
“You’re right that you don’t know much about this family. Or anything at all. Who are you?” Koa’s mom’s tone was dismissive.
“No one you have the right to know.” Koa’s answer was immediate.
A derisive chuckle was all she replied with before folding her arms and leaning back into her seat.
Mia felt lightheaded and realized she probably hadn’t really breathed in far too long. She drew in air and then let it out.
“Thank you,” Koa whispered in her ear and suddenly her panic eased.
Mia shot him a shy smile before leaning into his strength once more.
Mia couldn’t help but wonder how differently a night she’d experienced about a year before, one that felt eerily similar to this one, would have gone if it had been Koa at her side instead of her ex.
She hadn’t seen her parents rushed into the ER, but she’d imagined it a hundred times. The gurneys being run through those stark white halls and the pungent metallic smell of blood mixed with cleaning solutions were the last sensations her parents experienced in this life.
They’d both died while being operated on. Mia had never had the chance to say goodbye.
After they were gone, she’d been given a few minutes with them both, praying over them and hoping her faith was enough to get her through life without her favorite people.
Her ex had been there, but at the same time, he hadn’t.
While they were waiting during the surgeries, he’d asked for more comfortable chairs and then taken the only one that was offered.
He’d gone to get food, but didn’t even think about getting his wife a cup of coffee.
When Mia had asked for quiet during those last few moments, he’d told Mia she’d lingered long enough, ruining the very last minutes she had with her parents.
That had been the beginning of the end of her marriage.
Mia shook away her melancholy thoughts. That night was nothing like this one. This one would end differently. Tutu had to make it.
Mia felt her phone buzz.
Do you want me to bring you all some food or something? Lana texted me what happened. I’m so sorry about Tutu. How’s Koa? How are you?
Mia sat and pondered before texting Nat back.
No, they didn’t need food. Maybe they would come morning if they were still there, but it was late enough that no one needed food.
But how was she? She’d answered the question so recently and yet so much had happened since then.
She’d stood up to Koa’s mom, she’d gotten lost in her own tragic memories.
I’ll be okay.
She knew that would be the case. There was only one time in her life she wasn’t sure she’d be okay and if she could endure that, she could endure anything else.
I think he’ll be okay too. Just pray for Tutu.
Already on it. Love you.
Came Nat’s immediate reply.
Mia shoved her phone back into her pocket.
“I guess since you’re here, you can get us coffee,” Koa’s mom said, and Mia looked up to see that the woman was looking at her.
“What?!” Koa leaned forward like he was about to stand up.
“I’m happy to get coffee,” Mia said, ready to say anything to keep the peace. She’d already said what she had to protect Koa from getting into it with his mom, she wouldn’t let him do so over her now.
“And I was planning on helping her. So touchy, Koa.”
The woman really was something else. Where did she get off speaking to her son like this after all she’d done to him?
Mia stood, smiling at Koa to show she was really happy to get them coffee before heading in the direction she thought coffee would be. She didn’t look behind to see if Koa’s mom followed.
“So you’re his shiny new toy,” his mom said as soon as they were out of Koa’s earshot.
“I guess.” Mia would not rise to the bait.
“You know you look exactly like the last one. Koa has a thing for mainland girls. Too good for local girls.”
Mia knew that wasn’t the case. Koa loved his home and the people here. If he’d dated two mainland girls in a row it didn’t have anything to do with thinking he was too good for anyone but rather one-on-one compatibility. But his mom seemed in no mood for a civil debate, so Mia let it be.
They finally got to the coffee kiosk, and Mia realized she had no idea how many they needed. She figured they could buy six and if anyone didn’t want theirs, she’d be happy to drink it.
“The last one left him at the altar. Went back to the mainland when she realized Koa would never change for her. He won’t change for you either.”
Mia watched as coffee streamed into the first cup, willing it to fill faster.
“I don’t want him to change for me.”
“You say that until you are about to get married or you’re about to have your first kid and you realize you want mom and dad close.”
“My mom and dad are dead,” Mia said sullenly as she removed one cup and let the next fill. Only five to go.
That seemed to stop the conversation for a minute. Long enough for two more cups to fill.
“You know you’re not right for him. He needs a local girl. That’s who he’ll end up with. They’ll understand him.”
Mia swallowed as the fourth cup filled.
“Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn’t. But that’s for Koa to decide.”
“You don’t think his mother knows what he needs?”
When his mother had all but abandoned him?
No, Mia was pretty sure his mother had no idea what Koa needed.
But Mia wasn’t cruel enough to say those thoughts aloud.
Besides what did she know about raising a child?
She had no right to judge. But she did have every right to protect whatever was blooming between her and Koa.
“I think that Koa knows what he needs. If he wants a local girl, he can let me know. But until then, I really like your son. I’ll be here for him. And I’ll do my best to be what he needs.”
His mom harrumphed, and thankfully the last cup was filling.
“I’ll take these three. I’ll leave those for you,” Mia said grabbing three of the cups before escaping.
She let out a sigh of relief as she saw Koa come into view once more, all of the frustration she felt at his mother bleeding away.
Yes, his mother wasn’t fun to deal with.
Yes, it was too much after one date. But so was the rest of this.
What she and Koa had wasn’t normal, and she loved most parts about that.
So she had to take the bad with the good. The worst with the best.
“I should have come with you,” Koa said after one look at Mia’s face.
She handed him a cup of coffee. “The last thing you need to worry about tonight is me.”
“What did she say?” he asked, looking back behind Mia, telling her his mom was close.
“Nothing you need to hear, but nothing I couldn’t handle,” Mia said, handing another cup to Preston before sitting in her seat next to Koa once more.
Koa breathed out of his nose. “I’m sure this is all more than you bargained for.” He sighed as if he waited for Mia to tell him he was right.
“It is. But then again so are you. Koa, everything I’ve learned about you has done nothing but impress me—besides that night at Puka’s.”
He let out an amused snort.
“I really like you. I’m sorry we’re here. But I’m not sorry I’m here with you.”
Koa’s eyes glistened. “Have I told you I really like you?”
Mia smiled with a nod.
“Okay,” Koa said as he twined the fingers of his free hand with Mia’s.
Okay, Mia thought.
And she knew somehow, and in some way, someday everything would be okay.